New Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant

Posted November 14, 2014byvaxtrac

New Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant

VaxTrac is excited to announce a $2.5 million investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support development and implementation of improved technology for our ongoing childhood immunization project in Benin, West Africa. Since 2012, VaxTrac has been equipping and training frontline health workers in Benin to use a mobile vaccine registry system, with the goal of improving record-keeping, reducing vaccine waste, and improving vaccine schedule adherence among caretakers of children under five.

Health workers in Benin, West Africa

One of our clinics in Benin

While historically the VaxTrac system has used netbooks and an attached fingerprint scanner, this award will enable our team to roll out a new Android-based iteration that can be used on any Android smartphone or tablet. The new system will be designed entirely on feedback from frontline health workers and decision makers from Benin and will allow for a more intuitive work flow and data management process. It will include updated versions of key features, such as parental fingerprint scanning, callback lists, and user-friendly data formatted specifically to the needs of decision makers. This most recent investment will also allow us to expand our coverage, ensuring that more children are immunized accurately and on time.

While we are currently serving 120 health facilities across two health zones in the coastal region of the country, the ongoing support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will allow us to add an additional zone in the dynamic resource setting of northern Benin, bringing an additional 126 frontline health workers from 25 health centers serving 148 villages into our scope. This award is the result of continued collaboration among VaxTrac, the Benin Ministry of Health, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization. We are thrilled about the continued support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and look forward to continuing our work to improve child health in Benin.